The Rule is No Boyfriends
by Orange Bulldog
Summary: Payson meets another injured athlete while recovering. They help each other heal...and then some. Femslash! When I wrote this, she hadn't really shown interest in any guys and we didn't know what was up with her back. Now it's kind of AU.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Make it or Break it. Obviously.

Payson Keeler lay glumly in her hospital bed. It had been a week since Nationals. A week since her life as she knew it had ended. She was in a different hospital, back in Boulder now. The doctors had deemed her healthy enough to travel – in a wheelchair – but the trip had been hard on her so she'd ended up here. They thought she had the best chance at recovery in the hospital, where she had daily therapy and limited other movement, but privately, Payson couldn't care less. She was almost certain not to recover to the point she wanted to, so she didn't really care.

* * *

"Hi there Payson, you're getting a roommate!" a nurse said cheerfully, entering the room and turning down the covers on the other bed. "And guess what, she's an athlete too!"

Payson rolled her eyes.

Two more nurses, pushing a stretcher with a groggy teenager on it, entered the room and carefully transferred the patient to the bed.

"She's just out of recovery, so she'll be sleepy." One nurse said as she left.

Payson stared at her new roommate. She was about her age, with shaggy brown hair, sort of like Emily's but without bangs.

"I'm not so sleepy that I can't tell you are staring at me." She said suddenly, and Payson almost jumped. The girl had been looking up at the ceiling but had turned her head slightly to look at her curious roommate.

"Sorry." Payson muttered.

"I'm Kristy Coughlin." She said, meeting the gymnast's eyes with the tiniest hint of a smirk.

"Payson Keeler. What's wrong with you? The nurse said you were an athlete too."

"Skiing accident, yeah. They were worried about paralysis but look, I can wiggle my toes." She demonstrated.

"Why aren't your parents here?"

"My mom saw me in recovery before they brought me here. Think I'm supposed to be stuck here for at least a week so she's going to get some stuff for me. How long have you been here?"

"Two days."

"And you're an athlete?"

"I was. Not anymore."

She turned away.

"Hey now, I'm sure-"

Payson turned back, eyes flashing with anger. "You're sure what? That it'll be fine? I was supposed to be the best. I should have won the national title and I'd be training for the Olympics right now. But I broke my back, and it's all over. And my friends don't even visit me, because they all made it onto the National team, and they have to practice, and I'm sure they don't know what to say anyway. But it's NOT going to be okay."

Kristy was silent for a moment. "What sport?"

"Gymnastics."

"KRISTY!"

Suddenly, the hospital room exploded with sound. Four college-aged boys burst into the room. Kristy grinned.

"Kris, how ya doing?"

"I'll be okay guys. Not paralyzed, that's the main thing right?"

"That's the spirit."

"Oh, guys, this is my roommate, Payson. Payson, these are my big brothers – John, Andrew, Tim, and Sam. Payson hurt her back too, so we're going to be hanging here for awhile."

"Seriously, Kristy, how are you doing? Mom said she talked to your coach while you were in surgery, and he really freaked her out." Tim asked, smiling politely at Payson before turning back to his little sister.

Kristy sighed. "Honestly, I don't really remember it. One minute I was on my way down a training run, it was going fine, and suddenly I'm in an ambulance. They said I got knocked out."

"Are you going to be better in time for Worlds?"

"Sam!" Andrew admonished his younger brother.

"You are going to a world competition?" Payson asked, interested.

"She didn't tell you? She's only like, the best US female skier right now." Sam said with pride.

Kristy rolled her eyes. "Not really. Sue Johnson is better than me."

"Not at the giant slalom, she isn't."

Kristy blushed.

"Wow that's awesome." Payson said.

"Do you guys have worlds in gymnastics?" Kristy asked her roommate.

Payson's face fell. "Yes. It's nothing compared to the Olympics, but I went last year. Won't be going again I guess."

The Coughlin brothers were smart enough to change the subject.

* * *

"You're really close to your brothers, huh?"

"Yeah, I'm like one of the guys. It's why I started skiing, actually. Dad enrolled them all in skiing to keep them active in the winter – four energetic boys running around in a house is not a lot of fun. Anyway, I wanted to be just like them, of course."

"Are they as good as you are?"

"No." she said, entirely honestly and not bragging at all. Payson understood. "Tim rarely skis anymore – he started to snowboard when we go as a family. I think he's just rebelling because he's the middle kid. John and Sam are strictly rec skiers. Andrew was the best of the four of them – he was on the ski team at the University of Colorado, but he never made it to the national scale. It was kind of hard on them for awhile, that I was so good, but now they are my biggest fans."


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Make it or Break it. Obviously.

* * *

"Hey Payson, how are you…"

"Hang on, I'm about to…ha!" Payson tossed her controller down in victory.

Kristy groaned. "Yeah, well, I beat you the last four times, don't forget it."

"Um, hey there." Kaylie said, raising her eyebrows. Payson actually looked like she was having fun, for the first time since her accident.

"Sorry guys! This is Kristy, my roommate. She's a skier. Back injury too. Kristy, this is Kaylie, Lauren, and Emily, the friends I've been telling you about."

The gymnasts exchanged slightly guilty looks.

"Sorry we haven't been by." Emily said. "We've been really busy at…we've been really busy." She suddenly realized Payson might not want to hear about the Rock.

"Busy at the Rock? I am not going to fall apart from the name, Emily. What's been going on?"

"Well, Sasha upped Kaylie's difficulty on floor and beam. He's making me go back to that lame floor, but at least now I have more time to practice it."

"He let Carter come back today." Kaylie chimed in. "He's still pretty pissed about Nationals, but at least he's got time. But Sasha said he's on probation – he gets caught with any more Rock girls and he's out for good."

"You guys aren't allowed to date each other?" Kristy asked.

"We aren't allowed to have boyfriends at all. The guys don't have that rule, but they aren't allowed to date us because of ours."

"Isn't that sexist?"

"Well, we have different coaches." Payson explained. "And guys don't peak until they are older, so the guys our age aren't really headed for the Olympics yet."

"Do you follow the rules?"

"Payson does." Kaylie grinned. "I used to date this guy Carter, but someone told our coach, Sasha, and he got suspended and couldn't go to Nationals. Carter didn't tell him it was me, so I didn't."

"Which is good, because she won, and otherwise that bitch Kelly Parker would have. Not that you should have broken the rule in the first place." Payson amended.

"Well it's not like I'm the only one. Lauren slept with Carter and Emily totally made out with pizza boy at Nationals."

Emily turned bright red. "He's moving to LA, so it doesn't really count.

"Okay, that sounds more like my team." Kristy laughed.

"Your team?"

"I ski."

"What she means to say is, she's amazing. She got bronze last year at their worlds in the great slalom."

"The giant slalom, but yes. And the national ski team is crazy incestuous. I mean, we all know we should be focused, but we have these training camps where we are all together…at least half the people start hooking up with someone there. It's all fine until someone breaks up or cheats with someone else, and then all hell breaks loose. It's awkward for everyone, and if you are actually part of it…well it's hard to get over someone when you still have to see them all the time."

"See, that's why the rule makes sense." Payson insisted.

"Yeah, but it sure would make camp a lot more fun." Lauren smirked.

* * *

"So you never had a boyfriend?" Kristy asked hesitantly.

"No way. I am way too focused on … I was way too focused on gymnastics."

"Were there any guys you wanted to hook up with?"

"No." Payson started picking at her blanket. To tell the truth, she had never understood the obsession with boys and hadn't yet had a first crush. She chalked it up to a combination of her focus and the fact that many gymnasts had screwed up hormones, but she was embarrassed by it. She decided to take the focus off her. "How about you, do you have a boyfriend?"

"No."

"But you've had one, right?"

"No."

"But…it sounded like you had, when you were talking about dating at training camp."

"I know. I did date someone, and it didn't end well."

"But it uh, it wasn't…it wasn't.."

"It wasn't a boy, no."

"Oh. Is that why it didn't end well?"

"Not really. She left me for another girl, not a guy, if that's what you mean." She smiled slightly in a not entirely nice way. "But that girl left _her_ for a guy."


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Make it or Break it. Obviously.

* * *

"Girls, I have someone who wants to meet you." Dr. Halloway, the orthopedic surgeon who was overseeing both their cases, said as he entered the room. "This is an old friend of mine, Dr. Jane Thompson. She's a surgeon at Columbia."

"Hi." The girls said in unison.

"I understand I'm in the presence of fame here." She smiled.

"Maybe with Kristy. I'm done."

"Pay-" Kristy started.

"It's okay. She's right, according to the doctors she's seen so far."

"What do you mean, seen so far?"

"Dr. Thompson thinks she can operate on you, Payson."

Payson's eyes went big. "But you said you couldn't."

"And I still think I can't. But I actually called Jane because I thought she'd be interested in Kristy's case, and your name came up, and she is more daring than I am."  
"Probably because I spent my childhood racing down mountains, while you were inside."

"You were a skier?" Kristy asked, interested.

"Sure was. That's why Dr. Halloway thought I'd be interested in meeting you. I wasn't nearly your caliber, but it put me through college and got me interested in sports medicine and orthopedics."

"Can we back up to the part where she can operate on me?" Payson asked impatiently.

"It's risky, and it would have a long recovery time before you could even think about flipping, but I've done similar surgeries twice successfully."

"What's the risk?"

"Paralysis. We'd be very close to your nerves."

Payson didn't have to think twice. "I want the surgery. I'm as good as paralyzed if I can't do gymnastics anyway."

Payson's parents appeared in the doorway.

"I told you that's what she'd say, Mark."

"Mom, Dad, she talked to you? She said she could fix me?"

"She might be able to fix you, or, you could end up in a wheelchair." Her father said.

"I don't care! I mean, I do care, I would, but I have to try, Dad, don't you see? Every time I let go of the bars, or run toward the vault, I am risking putting myself in a wheelchair, but I love it, and I'm good at it, so I do. If she could get that back…you have to let her try."

Her father sighed. "I know."

* * *

"You nervous?" Kristy asked. She was sitting on her friend's bed, holding her hand.

"You're going to be here when I get out, right?" Payson asked.

Kristy smiled. "They released me, but I'm not going anywhere until you wake up."

Payson swallowed. "Kristy, I, uh…" she stared into her friend's brown eyes and suddenly, without warning, leaned up and kissed her. Before Kristy really knew what had happened, the blonde girl had lain back down.

"Uh…"

"In case something happens in there, I wanted to have done that. Kristy, I like you, I like you a lot." She blushed.

Kristy leaned in and kissed her again. "I like you a lot too, Payson."

She straightened up just as a nurse walked in with a wheelchair. "Kristy, time to go. Your parents are downstairs in the car."

"But I-"

"Payson's surgery will take hours, and then recovery…you can come back tonight and see her, okay?"

Kristy nodded, then turned to her friend. "I'll see you tonight, okay?"

Payson nodded.

Kristy rolled her eyes at the wheelchair. "This is so dumb, I can walk now, but I know, I know, it's a rule." She climbed in and allowed the nurse to push her out the door, giving Payson one last grin before she was gone.

* * *

"Okay Payson, I want you to count backwards from 100. Can you do that for me?"

"100, 99, 98, 97…"

The next thing Payson Keeler knew, she was laying in a recovery room. She couldn't feel her legs.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Make it or Break it. Obviously.

* * *

Payson screamed. It woke up her mother, who was sitting in a chair nearby dozing.

"Sweetie, what's wrong?"

"I can't feel my legs! I can't feel them!"

The scream had apparently alerted the medical staff, because as Kim Keeler was trying to calm down her hysterical daughter, Dr. Thompson walked in.

"Payson? What's wrong?"

"She can't feel her legs."

"Okay, calm down, let's take a look. The surgery seemed to go well, it's very likely this is temporary, okay? Let's not panic."

She lifted the blankets off Payson's legs and gently stroked the bottom of her foot, which twitched ever so slightly, and Dr. Thompson grinned.

"Not a lot of reaction, but it's there. The paralysis is almost certainly temporary, there's swelling due to the surgery. In a few hours you should be able to feel and wiggle your toes."

* * *

Sure enough, by the time Kristy arrived, Payson could barely stop wiggling her toes, she was so happy the surgery had gone well. She got suddenly shy when she saw the girl she had kissed that morning. Luckily, her mother decided to use Kristy's arrival as an excuse to go get more coffee without feeling guilty leaving her daughter alone.

"Um, hi."

"I see you are wiggling. It went well then?"

Payson grinned. "Uh huh. I have to stay in bed for another week, then probably six weeks in a brace before physical therapy, but if all goes well, I could start light training in four months."

Kristy grabbed her hand. "That's great, Pay, I'm so happy for you!"

"Dr. Thompson is a lifesaver. I think she understands how important it is to us. Most doctors don't understand, they can't imagine why I'd want to risk paralysis when I was doing fine in their opinion."

She stared at their entwined hands.

"Kristy, are you…do your parents know?"

"That I'm gay?"

Payson nodded.  
"No. I think they'd be okay, but it's still scary."

"So um, if we wanted to keep this just… us, that would be okay with you?"

"If there's something to keep just between us, I'm happy, okay?" she lifted Payson's hand and gently kissed it.

* * *

"I can't do it, Pay."  
"What do you mean?"

Payson was lying on her bed. She'd just returned from physical therapy and was exhausted, but pleased with the days' work. Kristy had been waiting on her doorstep when they returned. They'd headed back to her room as it was clear Kristy was worked up about something.

"I got the okay to ski today, and I went up the mountain…and I couldn't do it. Every time I look down the mountain, I see myself falling, and I panic. I can't do it."

Payson looked up at her girlfriend, who was pacing about the room, eyes watering.

"It's all I've been thinking about for two months, and now that I'm allowed to, I panic."

Payson thought for a minute. "Are there any of those ski places where you don't have to ride a lift to get to the top?"

"What? It's not the lift, Pay, it's the down part that's a problem."

"Answer my question."

Kristy thought for a minute. "There is one nearby where the lodge is in the middle, so you can ski down and take the lift up. I think, anyway – the bottom slopes are greens and blues so I always go up anyway to the blacks."

Payson carefully stood up. "Let's go."

"What?"

"We are going to that ski place. Let's go."

"But I, but you…"  
"I am allowed to ride in cars and allowed to walk. That's all I'm going to do. You have your gear?"

Kristy nodded meekly.

"Great." Payson grabbed her heaviest coat to put over the brace she still had to wear, and headed out the door.

* * *

"Pay, this is a bunny slope."

"It's your first day back, you have to start somewhere. My first day back, I'll probably just get to walk along the beam and maybe swing once around the bars."

"Point taken."  
"What kind of slope did you try out this morning?"

"A blue one, okay, I am not crazy. Which makes it even more stupid that I was scared. I've been skiing blues since I was 4 years old."

"Would it help you if I told you you looked really hot in that outfit you are wearing?"

"Um…it might." Kristy blushed.  
"Okay look. I want you to look at that slope, and visualize going down it. Close your eyes, and visualize it."

Kristy obediently closed her eyes.

"Do you see yourself going down, smoothly, no problems?"

Kristy nodded hesitantly.

"Okay. Put those skis on, and ski down. I'll be watching."

"But what if I can't?"

Payson looked around. "Do you know any of the people around here?"

Kristy blinked and looked around. "What? No, why?"

"Would they know who you are?"

"Probably not standing here bundled up with my goggles on at a bunny slope, no."

Payson grabbed her coat and pulled her into a long kiss.

"I believe in you. Now go." She stepped back and watched as Kristy, still smiling from the kiss, pushed off and started down the hill.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Make it or Break it. Obviously.

* * *

Kim Keeler watched her younger daughter do a perfect vault and throw her arms up in obvious glee. She remembered when Payson had still had fun with gymnastics – it had been some time ago. She'd been so focused for years. She was happy for her daughter that the surgery had gone well and she had a chance to get back to what she claimed she loved, but if she was honest a tiny part of her felt that these last few months had been wonderful for Payson. She was still doing physical therapy, but it had now been three months since Nationals and although Payson wasn't yet allowed to do gymnastics, she had essentially unrestrained normal movement. And Kim had never seen her daughter so happy as she had been the past few months.

"Hi Kim!" Chloe Kmetko sat down next to her.

"Oh, hello Chloe." Though most of the other mothers tolerated Chloe now, she wasn't exactly universally welcomed. But Kim liked the woman. She clearly loved her two children immensely and that was enough for Kim and more than she could say for many of the other mothers.

"How's Payson doing these days?"

"You know, I was just thinking about her. In a way, this injury has allowed her be sort of a normal kid. Our kids lead such strange lives sometimes, you know?"

"Oh I know. I couldn't believe it when they said Emily should stop going to school."

"Exactly. When I was their age, all I was worried about was the prom. Sure, going to the Olympics is amazing, but so many of them give everything up for the dream and won't make it there. Payson included, even with this surgery."

"Is Payson liking her time off? She have a boyfriend yet? Or is that still not allowed?"

Kim smiled. "I don't see how anyone would stop her these days, but no, she doesn't have a boyfriend. She spends most of her time with her skier friend Kristy. Emily might have mentioned her, I know all the girls have spent time together."

"Well, at least she has a friend outside of this crazy place. No offense."

* * *

"All right, I'm finished, can we go to the fair now?"

"Shh, I'm not done yet." Payson shushed her girlfriend, intent on Act II of Hamlet.

Kristy rolled her eyes. "Pay, you are like 6 months ahead of schedule."

"Exactly, I'm making the best of this time so that when I'm allowed back in the gym I don't have to worry about school."

"Okay, but can't we take a Saturday afternoon off? Besides, I'm leaving on Monday, remember, for a week of training?"

Payson relented, and put her book down. "Okay…but are you sure you want to go to the fair? I'm sure we can find things…to do…here." She said, punctuating her words with light kisses up Kristy's neck, culminating in a long kiss on the lips.

Kristy closed her eyes. "Mm…as tempting as that is, yes, I want to go to the fair." She slid off the bed and reached out a hand to her girlfriend. "But um, maybe we could continue that later." She grinned.

* * *

"Okay, I admit it, the fair is fun." Payson grabbed her girlfriend's hand as they walked along the group of carnival rides. "What do you want to do first?"

"Well, I would have said hit the food stands, but I know you are thinking towards training again, so…Ferris Wheel?"

"You're so sweet." She lightly pecked Kristy on the lips.

Unbeknownst to them, a reporter for the local paper was nearby, intending to get some information for a piece on the fair. He was an avid skier and recognized Kristy Coughlin, and his eyes widened when he saw her kissing another girl. He pulled his digital camera out of his pocket and grinned. His boss was going to like this.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Make it or Break it. Obviously.

* * *

"Local elite athletes in lesbian love affair!"

Kim Keeler stared at the paper, at a picture of her daughter. More precisely, at a picture of her daughter and Kristy Coughlin, kissing.

"Hey Mom, what's…" Payson entered the kitchen and saw over her mom's shoulder what she was reading. As Kim's head whirled around, all the color drained out of Payson's face.

"Payson, is there something you want to talk to me about?"

"Can they just do that? Take pictures and print them without even asking? Without checking?"

"It's not exactly prize-winning journalism, but it's not illegal. Can we go back to the first question?"

"Why, what do you expect me to say? You can see the picture." Payson turned on her heel and rushed back to her room. She picked up her phone just as it started buzzing.

"Kristy, did you…yeah, my mom too. We are so dumb. I know, I forget too, but who would have thought anyone would care?"

"Well, at least we don't have to worry about how to come out to people." Kristy tried to joke. "Is your mom okay?"

"I don't know, I didn't really talk to her about it. She'll probably come knocking on my door as soon as she calls my dad. Yours?"

"My mom said she was pretty sure I was gay anyway and she's fine with it but she wished I had told her. Now I definitely wish I had, I don't know why I didn't."

Payson picked at her bedspread. "Yeah me neither. I hope my mom is that cool." She heard a knock at her door and sighed. "Kris, that's my mom. I guess I should go."

"Yeah. Good luck. I love you."

"I love you too."

Kim heard the last words of her daughter's conversation and had no doubts about who she was talking to. Well, at least she was happy, and Kristy was a nice girl. The door opened.

"Hi Payson."

"I'm sorry Mom." Payson suddenly burst into tears.

"Sweetie, what are you sorry about? You know I love you, right?"

Payson nodded.

"That didn't change when I saw the picture, okay? You're still my little girl. But I want to know why you thought you couldn't tell me."

Payson sniffed. "I don't know, dating seemed like such a secret thing, I guess, already, from the Rock. Plus she's a girl….it just seemed like something I shouldn't tell people. So I didn't."

Kim pulled her into a hug.

* * *

The Rock was abuzz. Everyone was talking about the morning paper – those who hadn't seen it before coming to the gym had instantly been shown. Kim Keeler braced herself as she and Becca walked in. Conversations instantly ceased, assuring her that they had been the topic of conversation. She decided to confront it head-on.

"Hi everyone. I'm sure you've all seen the paper, and yes, that's my daughter and her girlfriend. Her father and I are entirely supportive of her, although we had a little chat about remembering that they are slightly famous and might want to keep that in mind. Now, let's get back to work."

The gymnasts, at least, felt guilty enough to go through the motions of stretching while they went back to their gossip.

"You know, it doesn't really surprise me, they were really close, but I'm surprised she didn't tell us." Kaylie said.

"Uh, we are really close, Kaylie, but that doesn't mean we are going down on each other." Lauren said with disgust.

"You have a problem with Payson being gay?" Emily asked, joining their group as she slid into the splits.

"Well, yeah, I mean she's seen us naked. She's probably checking us out every time we do our routines."

"Half the guys in the gym might be checking you out when you do your routines."

"Yeah but…they are guys."

"So?"

"So I don't know, it's weird! Anyway yeah she should have told us."

"Yes so that you could have said that to her. Great. And it's not like we don't have experience with relationships being kept a secret here." Emily said pointedly.

"Exactly – look how that turned out!" Kaylie said. "Hey, you think Sasha's going to make them break up if she comes back?"

"Technically, the rule is no boyfriends…she's not breaking it." Emily said with a grin.

* * *

Six months later…

"Hey babe, how was your day?"

Payson grinned as she hopped in the car. "Sasha cleared me to train for nationals."

"That's great!" Kristy leaned over and kissed her. As she turned back to the wheel, she saw a girl glaring at them.

"Lauren still not cool with us, huh?"

Payson looked over and sighed. "No. I'd think she'd at least appreciate the fact that we basically made Sasha change the 'no boyfriends' policy. Well, okay also the parents thought it was counterproductive and just made us more distracted hiding things. But the whole thing came up because they had to re-evaluate the policy when I wasn't technically breaking it."

"She'll get over it eventually if she's really your friend. And if not…you can just beat her at Nationals."

Payson grinned. Life was good.


End file.
